openclaw/docs/cli/mcp.md

summary, read_when, title, sidebarTitle

summary	read_when	title	sidebarTitle
Expose OpenClaw channel conversations over MCP and manage saved MCP server definitions	Connecting Codex, Claude Code, or another MCP client to OpenClaw-backed channels Running `openclaw mcp serve` Managing OpenClaw-saved MCP server definitions	MCP	MCP

openclaw mcp has two jobs:

• run OpenClaw as an MCP server with openclaw mcp serve
• manage OpenClaw-owned outbound MCP server definitions with list, show, status, doctor, probe, add, set, configure, tools, login, logout, reload, and unset

In other words:

• serve is OpenClaw acting as an MCP server
• the other subcommands are OpenClaw acting as an MCP client-side registry for MCP servers its runtimes may consume later

Use openclaw acp when OpenClaw should host a coding harness session itself and route that runtime through ACP.

Choose the right MCP path

OpenClaw has several MCP surfaces. Pick the one that matches who owns the agent runtime and who owns the tools.

Goal	Use	Why
Let an external MCP client read/send OpenClaw channel conversations	openclaw mcp serve	OpenClaw is the MCP server and exposes Gateway-backed conversations over stdio.
Save third-party MCP servers for OpenClaw-managed agent runs	openclaw mcp add, set, configure, tools, login	OpenClaw is the MCP client-side registry and later projects those servers into eligible runtimes.
Check a saved server without running an agent turn	openclaw mcp status, doctor, probe	status and doctor inspect config; probe opens a live MCP connection and lists capabilities.
Edit MCP config from a browser	Control UI /mcp	The page shows inventory, enablement, OAuth/filter summaries, command hints, and a scoped mcp editor.
Give Codex app-server a scoped native MCP server	mcp.servers.<name>.codex	The codex block only affects Codex app-server thread projection and is stripped before native config handoff.
Run ACP-hosted harness sessions	openclaw acp and ACP Agents	ACP bridge mode does not accept per-session MCP server injection; configure gateway/plugin bridges instead.

If you are not sure which path you need, start with `openclaw mcp status --verbose`. It shows what OpenClaw has saved without starting any MCP servers.

OpenClaw as an MCP server

This is the openclaw mcp serve path.

When to use serve

Use openclaw mcp serve when:

• Codex, Claude Code, or another MCP client should talk directly to OpenClaw-backed channel conversations
• you already have a local or remote OpenClaw Gateway with routed sessions
• you want one MCP server that works across OpenClaw's channel backends instead of running separate per-channel bridges

Use openclaw acp instead when OpenClaw should host the coding runtime itself and keep the agent session inside OpenClaw.

How it works

openclaw mcp serve starts a stdio MCP server. The MCP client owns that process. While the client keeps the stdio session open, the bridge connects to a local or remote OpenClaw Gateway over WebSocket and exposes routed channel conversations over MCP.

The MCP client spawns `openclaw mcp serve`. The bridge connects to the OpenClaw Gateway over WebSocket. Routed sessions become MCP conversations and transcript/history tools. Live events are queued in memory while the bridge is connected. If Claude channel mode is enabled, the same session can also receive Claude-specific push notifications. - live queue state starts when the bridge connects - older transcript history is read with `messages_read` - Claude push notifications only exist while the MCP session is alive - when the client disconnects, the bridge exits and the live queue is gone - one-shot agent entry points such as `openclaw agent` and `openclaw infer model run` retire any bundled MCP runtimes they open when the reply completes, so repeated scripted runs do not accumulate stdio MCP child processes - stdio MCP servers launched by OpenClaw (bundled or user-configured) are torn down as a process tree on shutdown, so child subprocesses started by the server do not survive after the parent stdio client exits - deleting or resetting a session disposes that session's MCP clients through the shared runtime cleanup path, so there are no lingering stdio connections tied to a removed session

Choose a client mode

Use the same bridge in two different ways:

Standard MCP tools only. Use `conversations_list`, `messages_read`, `events_poll`, `events_wait`, `messages_send`, and the approval tools. Standard MCP tools plus the Claude-specific channel adapter. Enable `--claude-channel-mode on` or leave the default `auto`. Today, `auto` behaves the same as `on`. There is no client capability detection yet.

What serve exposes

The bridge uses existing Gateway session route metadata to expose channel-backed conversations. A conversation appears when OpenClaw already has session state with a known route such as:

• channel
• recipient or destination metadata
• optional accountId
• optional threadId

This gives MCP clients one place to:

• list recent routed conversations
• read recent transcript history
• wait for new inbound events
• send a reply back through the same route
• see approval requests that arrive while the bridge is connected

Usage

```bash openclaw mcp serve ``` ```bash openclaw mcp serve --url wss://gateway-host:18789 --token-file ~/.openclaw/gateway.token ``` ```bash openclaw mcp serve --url wss://gateway-host:18789 --password-file ~/.openclaw/gateway.password ``` ```bash openclaw mcp serve --verbose openclaw mcp serve --claude-channel-mode off ```

Bridge tools

The current bridge exposes these MCP tools:

Lists recent session-backed conversations that already have route metadata in Gateway session state.

Useful filters:

- `limit`
- `search`
- `channel`
- `includeDerivedTitles`
- `includeLastMessage`

Returns one conversation by `session_key` using a direct Gateway session lookup. Reads recent transcript messages for one session-backed conversation. Extracts non-text message content blocks from one transcript message. This is a metadata view over transcript content, not a standalone durable attachment blob store. Reads queued live events since a numeric cursor. Long-polls until the next matching queued event arrives or a timeout expires.

Use this when a generic MCP client needs near-real-time delivery without a Claude-specific push protocol.

Sends text back through the same route already recorded on the session.

Current behavior:

- requires an existing conversation route
- uses the session's channel, recipient, account id, and thread id
- sends text only

Lists pending exec/plugin approval requests the bridge has observed since it connected to the Gateway. Resolves one pending exec/plugin approval request with:

- `allow-once`
- `allow-always`
- `deny`

Event model

The bridge keeps an in-memory event queue while it is connected.

Current event types:

• message
• exec_approval_requested
• exec_approval_resolved
• plugin_approval_requested
• plugin_approval_resolved
• claude_permission_request

- the queue is live-only; it starts when the MCP bridge starts - `events_poll` and `events_wait` do not replay older Gateway history by themselves - durable backlog should be read with `messages_read`

Claude channel notifications

The bridge can also expose Claude-specific channel notifications. This is the OpenClaw equivalent of a Claude Code channel adapter: standard MCP tools remain available, but live inbound messages can also arrive as Claude-specific MCP notifications.

`--claude-channel-mode off`: standard MCP tools only. `--claude-channel-mode on`: enable Claude channel notifications. `--claude-channel-mode auto`: current default; same bridge behavior as `on`.

When Claude channel mode is enabled, the server advertises Claude experimental capabilities and can emit:

• notifications/claude/channel
• notifications/claude/channel/permission

Current bridge behavior:

• inbound user transcript messages are forwarded as notifications/claude/channel
• Claude permission requests received over MCP are tracked in-memory
• if the linked conversation later sends yes abcde or no abcde, the bridge converts that to notifications/claude/channel/permission
• these notifications are live-session only; if the MCP client disconnects, there is no push target

This is intentionally client-specific. Generic MCP clients should rely on the standard polling tools.

MCP client config

Example stdio client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openclaw": {
      "command": "openclaw",
      "args": [
        "mcp",
        "serve",
        "--url",
        "wss://gateway-host:18789",
        "--token-file",
        "/path/to/gateway.token"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For most generic MCP clients, start with the standard tool surface and ignore Claude mode. Turn Claude mode on only for clients that actually understand the Claude-specific notification methods.

Options

openclaw mcp serve supports:

Gateway WebSocket URL. Gateway token. Read token from file. Gateway password. Read password from file. Claude notification mode. Verbose logs on stderr. Prefer `--token-file` or `--password-file` over inline secrets when possible.

Security and trust boundary

The bridge does not invent routing. It only exposes conversations that Gateway already knows how to route.

That means:

• sender allowlists, pairing, and channel-level trust still belong to the underlying OpenClaw channel configuration
• messages_send can only reply through an existing stored route
• approval state is live/in-memory only for the current bridge session
• bridge auth should use the same Gateway token or password controls you would trust for any other remote Gateway client

If a conversation is missing from conversations_list, the usual cause is not MCP configuration. It is missing or incomplete route metadata in the underlying Gateway session.

Testing

OpenClaw ships a deterministic Docker smoke for this bridge:

pnpm test:docker:mcp-channels

That smoke:

• starts a seeded Gateway container
• starts a second container that spawns openclaw mcp serve
• verifies conversation discovery, transcript reads, attachment metadata reads, live event queue behavior, and outbound send routing
• validates Claude-style channel and permission notifications over the real stdio MCP bridge

This is the fastest way to prove the bridge works without wiring a real Telegram, Discord, or iMessage account into the test run.

For broader testing context, see Testing.

Troubleshooting

Usually means the Gateway session is not already routable. Confirm that the underlying session has stored channel/provider, recipient, and optional account/thread route metadata. Expected. The live queue starts when the bridge connects. Read older transcript history with `messages_read`. Check all of these:

- the client kept the stdio MCP session open
- `--claude-channel-mode` is `on` or `auto`
- the client actually understands the Claude-specific notification methods
- the inbound message happened after the bridge connected

`permissions_list_open` only shows approval requests observed while the bridge was connected. It is not a durable approval history API.

OpenClaw as an MCP client registry

This is the openclaw mcp list, show, status, doctor, probe, add, set, configure, tools, login, logout, reload, and unset path.

These commands do not expose OpenClaw over MCP. They manage OpenClaw-owned MCP server definitions under mcp.servers in OpenClaw config.

Those saved definitions are for runtimes that OpenClaw launches or configures later, such as embedded OpenClaw and other runtime adapters. OpenClaw stores the definitions centrally so those runtimes do not need to keep their own duplicate MCP server lists.

- these commands only read or write OpenClaw config - `status`, `list`, `show`, `doctor` without `--probe`, `set`, `configure`, `tools`, `logout`, `reload`, and `unset` do not connect to the target MCP server - `login` performs the MCP OAuth network flow for the configured HTTP server and saves the resulting local credentials - `status --verbose` prints resolved transport, auth, timeout, filter, and parallel-tool-call hints without connecting - `doctor` checks saved definitions for local setup problems such as missing stdio commands, invalid working directories, missing TLS files, disabled servers, literal sensitive header/env values, and incomplete OAuth authorization - `doctor --probe` adds the same live connection proof as `probe` after static checks pass - `probe` connects to the selected server or all configured servers, lists tools, and reports capabilities/diagnostics - `add` builds a definition from flags and probes before saving unless `--no-probe` is set or OAuth authorization is needed first - runtime adapters decide which transport shapes they actually support at execution time - `enabled: false` keeps a server saved but excludes it from embedded runtime discovery - `timeout` and `connectTimeout` set per-server request and connection timeouts in seconds - `supportsParallelToolCalls: true` marks servers that adapters can call concurrently - HTTP servers can use static headers, OAuth login, TLS verification control, and mTLS certificate/key paths - embedded OpenClaw exposes configured MCP tools in normal `coding` and `messaging` tool profiles; `minimal` still hides them, and `tools.deny: ["bundle-mcp"]` disables them explicitly - per-server `toolFilter.include` and `toolFilter.exclude` filter discovered MCP tools before they become OpenClaw tools - servers that advertise resources or prompts also expose utility tools for listing/reading resources and listing/fetching prompts; those generated utility names (`resources_list`, `resources_read`, `prompts_list`, `prompts_get`) use the same include/exclude filter - dynamic MCP tool-list changes invalidate the cached catalog for that session; the next discovery/use refreshes from the server - repeated MCP tool request/protocol failures pause that server briefly so one broken server does not consume the whole turn - session-scoped bundled MCP runtimes are reaped after `mcp.sessionIdleTtlMs` milliseconds of idle time (default 10 minutes; set `0` to disable) and one-shot embedded runs clean them up at run end

Runtime adapters may normalize this shared registry into the shape their downstream client expects. For example, embedded OpenClaw consumes OpenClaw transport values directly, while Claude Code and Gemini receive CLI-native type values such as http, sse, or stdio.

Codex app-server also honors an optional codex block on each server. This is OpenClaw projection metadata for Codex app-server threads only; it does not change ACP sessions, generic Codex harness config, or other runtime adapters. Use non-empty codex.agents to project a server only into specific OpenClaw agent ids. Empty, blank, or invalid agent lists are rejected by config validation and omitted by the runtime projection path instead of becoming global. Use codex.defaultToolsApprovalMode (auto, prompt, or approve) to emit Codex's native default_tools_approval_mode for a trusted server. OpenClaw strips the codex metadata before handing the native mcp_servers config to Codex.

Saved MCP server definitions

OpenClaw also stores a lightweight MCP server registry in config for surfaces that want OpenClaw-managed MCP definitions.

Commands:

• openclaw mcp list
• openclaw mcp show [name]
• openclaw mcp status [--verbose]
• openclaw mcp doctor [name] [--probe]
• openclaw mcp probe [name]
• openclaw mcp add <name> [flags]
• openclaw mcp set <name> <json>
• openclaw mcp configure <name> [flags]
• openclaw mcp tools <name> [--include csv] [--exclude csv] [--clear]
• openclaw mcp login <name> [--code code]
• openclaw mcp logout <name>
• openclaw mcp reload
• openclaw mcp unset <name>

Notes:

• list sorts server names.
• show without a name prints the full configured MCP server object.
• status classifies configured transports without connecting. --verbose includes resolved launch, timeout, OAuth, filter, and parallel-call details.
• doctor performs static checks without connecting. Add --probe when the command should also verify that enabled servers connect.
• probe connects and reports tool counts, resources/prompts support, list-change support, and diagnostics.
• add accepts stdio flags such as --command, --arg, --env, and --cwd, or HTTP flags such as --url, --transport, --header, --auth oauth, TLS, timeout, and tool-selection flags.
• set expects one JSON object value on the command line.
• configure updates enablement, tool filters, timeouts, OAuth, TLS, and parallel-tool-call hints without replacing the whole server definition.
• tools updates per-server tool filters. Include/exclude entries are MCP tool names and simple * globs.
• login runs the OAuth flow for HTTP servers configured with auth: "oauth". The first run prints an authorization URL; rerun with --code after approval.
• logout clears stored OAuth credentials for the named server without removing the saved server definition.
• reload disposes cached in-process MCP runtimes. Gateway or agent processes in another process still need their own reload or restart path.
• Use transport: "streamable-http" for Streamable HTTP MCP servers. openclaw mcp set also normalizes CLI-native type: "http" to the same canonical config shape for compatibility.
• unset fails if the named server does not exist.

Examples:

openclaw mcp list
openclaw mcp show context7 --json
openclaw mcp status --verbose
openclaw mcp doctor --probe
openclaw mcp probe context7 --json
openclaw mcp add memory --command npx --arg -y --arg @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory
openclaw mcp set context7 '{"command":"uvx","args":["context7-mcp"]}'
openclaw mcp tools context7 --include 'resolve-library-id,get-library-docs'
openclaw mcp set docs '{"url":"https://mcp.example.com","transport":"streamable-http"}'
openclaw mcp configure docs --timeout 20 --connect-timeout 5 --include 'search,read_*'
openclaw mcp configure docs --auth oauth --oauth-scope 'docs.read'
openclaw mcp login docs
openclaw mcp logout docs
openclaw mcp unset context7

Common server recipes

These examples save server definitions only. Run openclaw mcp doctor --probe afterward to prove that the server starts and exposes tools.

```bash openclaw mcp add files \ --command npx \ --arg -y \ --arg @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem \ --arg "$HOME/Documents" \ --include 'read_file,list_directory,search_files' openclaw mcp doctor files --probe ```

Scope filesystem servers to the smallest directory tree that the agent should read or edit.

```bash openclaw mcp add memory \ --command npx \ --arg -y \ --arg @modelcontextprotocol/server-memory openclaw mcp probe memory --json ```

Use a tool filter if the server exposes write tools that should not be available to normal agents.

```bash openclaw mcp add local-tools \ --command node \ --arg ./dist/mcp-server.js \ --cwd /srv/openclaw-tools \ --env API_BASE=https://internal.example openclaw mcp status --verbose ```

`doctor` checks that `cwd` exists and that the command resolves from the configured environment.

```bash openclaw mcp add docs \ --url https://mcp.example.com/mcp \ --transport streamable-http \ --auth oauth \ --oauth-scope docs.read \ --timeout 20 \ --connect-timeout 5 \ --include 'search,read_*' openclaw mcp doctor docs --probe ```

Use OAuth when the remote server supports it. If the server requires static headers, avoid committing literal bearer tokens.

```bash openclaw mcp set cua-driver '{"command":"cua-driver","args":["mcp"]}' openclaw mcp tools cua-driver --include 'list_apps,observe,click,type' openclaw mcp doctor cua-driver --probe ```

Direct desktop-control servers inherit the permissions of the process they launch. Use narrow tool filters and OS-level permission prompts.

JSON output shapes

Use --json for scripts and dashboards. Field sets can grow over time, so consumers should ignore unknown keys.

```json { "path": "/home/user/.openclaw/openclaw.json", "servers": [ { "name": "docs", "configured": true, "enabled": true, "ok": true, "transport": "streamable-http", "launch": "streamable-http https://mcp.example.com/mcp", "auth": "oauth", "authStatus": { "hasTokens": true, "hasClientInformation": true, "hasCodeVerifier": false, "hasDiscoveryState": true, "hasLastAuthorizationUrl": false }, "requestTimeoutMs": 20000, "connectionTimeoutMs": 5000, "toolFilter": { "include": ["search", "read_*"], "exclude": [] }, "supportsParallelToolCalls": true } ] } ``` ```json { "ok": false, "path": "/home/user/.openclaw/openclaw.json", "servers": [ { "name": "docs", "ok": false, "issues": [ { "level": "error", "message": "OAuth credentials are not authorized; run openclaw mcp login docs" } ] } ] } ```

`doctor --json` exits nonzero when any enabled checked server has an error. Warnings are reported but do not make the command fail by themselves.

```json { "path": "/home/user/.openclaw/openclaw.json", "generatedAt": "2026-05-31T09:00:00.000Z", "servers": { "docs": { "launch": "streamable-http https://mcp.example.com/mcp", "tools": 2, "resources": true, "prompts": false, "listChanged": { "tools": true, "resources": false, "prompts": false } } }, "tools": ["docs__read_page", "docs__search"], "diagnostics": [] } ```

`probe` opens a live MCP client session. Use it for reachability and capability proof, not for static config audits.

Example config shape:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "context7": {
        "command": "uvx",
        "args": ["context7-mcp"]
      },
      "docs": {
        "url": "https://mcp.example.com",
        "transport": "streamable-http",
        "timeout": 20,
        "connectTimeout": 5,
        "supportsParallelToolCalls": true,
        "auth": "oauth",
        "oauth": {
          "scope": "docs.read"
        },
        "sslVerify": true,
        "clientCert": "/path/to/client.crt",
        "clientKey": "/path/to/client.key",
        "toolFilter": {
          "include": ["search_*"],
          "exclude": ["admin_*"]
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Stdio transport

Launches a local child process and communicates over stdin/stdout.

Field	Description
command	Executable to spawn (required)
args	Array of command-line arguments
env	Extra environment variables
cwd / workingDirectory	Working directory for the process

**Stdio env safety filter**

OpenClaw rejects interpreter-startup env keys that can alter how a stdio MCP server starts up before the first RPC, even if they appear in a server's env block. Blocked keys include NODE_OPTIONS, NODE_REDIRECT_WARNINGS, NODE_REPL_EXTERNAL_MODULE, NODE_REPL_HISTORY, NODE_V8_COVERAGE, PYTHONSTARTUP, PYTHONPATH, PERL5OPT, RUBYOPT, SHELLOPTS, PS4, and similar runtime-control variables. Startup rejects these with a configuration error so they cannot inject an implicit prelude, swap the interpreter, enable a debugger, or redirect runtime output against the stdio process. Ordinary credential, proxy, and server-specific env vars (GITHUB_TOKEN, HTTP_PROXY, custom *_API_KEY, etc.) are unaffected.

If your MCP server genuinely needs one of the blocked variables, set it on the gateway host process instead of under the stdio server's env.

SSE / HTTP transport

Connects to a remote MCP server over HTTP Server-Sent Events.

Field	Description
url	HTTP or HTTPS URL of the remote server (required)
headers	Optional key-value map of HTTP headers (for example auth tokens)
connectionTimeoutMs	Per-server connection timeout in ms (optional)
connectTimeout	Per-server connection timeout in seconds (optional)
timeout / requestTimeoutMs	Per-server MCP request timeout in seconds or ms
auth: "oauth"	Use MCP OAuth token storage and openclaw mcp login
sslVerify	Set false only for explicitly trusted private HTTPS endpoints
clientCert / clientKey	mTLS client certificate and key paths
supportsParallelToolCalls	Hint that concurrent calls are safe for this server

Example:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "remote-tools": {
        "url": "https://mcp.example.com",
        "auth": "oauth",
        "timeout": 20,
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer <token>"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Sensitive values in url (userinfo) and headers are redacted in logs and status output. openclaw mcp doctor warns when sensitive-looking headers or env entries contain literal values, so operators can move those values out of committed config.

OAuth workflow

OAuth is for HTTP MCP servers that advertise the MCP OAuth flow. Static Authorization headers are ignored for a server while auth: "oauth" is enabled.

Add or update the server with `auth: "oauth"` and any optional OAuth metadata.

```bash
openclaw mcp set docs '{"url":"https://mcp.example.com/mcp","transport":"streamable-http","auth":"oauth","oauth":{"scope":"docs.read"}}'
```

Run login to create the authorization request.

```bash
openclaw mcp login docs
```

OpenClaw prints the authorization URL and stores temporary OAuth verifier state under the OpenClaw state directory.

After approving in the browser, pass the returned code back to OpenClaw.

```bash
openclaw mcp login docs --code abc123
```

Use status or doctor to confirm that tokens are present.

```bash
openclaw mcp status --verbose
openclaw mcp doctor docs --probe
```

Logout removes stored OAuth credentials but keeps the saved server definition.

```bash
openclaw mcp logout docs
```

If the provider rotates tokens or the authorization state gets stuck, run openclaw mcp logout <name>, then repeat login. logout can clear credentials for a saved HTTP server even after auth: "oauth" has been removed from config, as long as the server name and URL still identify the credential store entry.

Streamable HTTP transport

streamable-http is an additional transport option alongside sse and stdio. It uses HTTP streaming for bidirectional communication with remote MCP servers.

Field	Description
url	HTTP or HTTPS URL of the remote server (required)
transport	Set to "streamable-http" to select this transport; when omitted, OpenClaw uses sse
headers	Optional key-value map of HTTP headers (for example auth tokens)
connectionTimeoutMs	Per-server connection timeout in ms (optional)
connectTimeout	Per-server connection timeout in seconds (optional)
timeout / requestTimeoutMs	Per-server MCP request timeout in seconds or ms
auth: "oauth"	Use MCP OAuth token storage and openclaw mcp login
sslVerify	Set false only for explicitly trusted private HTTPS endpoints
clientCert / clientKey	mTLS client certificate and key paths
supportsParallelToolCalls	Hint that concurrent calls are safe for this server

OpenClaw config uses transport: "streamable-http" as the canonical spelling. CLI-native MCP type: "http" values are accepted when saved through openclaw mcp set and repaired by openclaw doctor --fix in existing config, but transport is what embedded OpenClaw consumes directly.

Example:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "streaming-tools": {
        "url": "https://mcp.example.com/stream",
        "transport": "streamable-http",
        "connectTimeout": 10,
        "timeout": 30,
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer <token>"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Registry commands do not start the channel bridge. Only `probe` and `doctor --probe` open a live MCP client session to prove the target server is reachable.

Control UI

The browser Control UI includes a dedicated MCP settings page at /mcp. It shows configured server counts, enabled/OAuth/filter summaries, per-server transport rows, enable/disable controls, common CLI commands, and a scoped editor for the mcp config section.

Use the page for operator edits and quick inventory. Use openclaw mcp doctor --probe or openclaw mcp probe when you need live server proof.

Operator workflow:

1. Open the Control UI and choose MCP.
2. Review the summary cards for total, enabled, OAuth, and filtered servers.
3. Use each server row for transport, auth, filter, timeout, and command hints.
4. Toggle enablement when you want to keep a definition but exclude it from runtime discovery.
5. Edit the scoped mcp config section for structural changes such as new servers, headers, TLS, OAuth metadata, or tool filters.
6. Choose Save to persist config only, or Save & Publish to apply through the Gateway config path.
7. Run openclaw mcp doctor --probe when you need live proof that the edited server starts and lists tools.

Notes:

• command snippets quote server names so unusual names remain copyable in a shell
• displayed URL-like values are redacted before rendering when they contain embedded credentials
• the page does not start MCP transports by itself
• active runtimes may need openclaw mcp reload, Gateway config publish, or process restart depending on which process owns the MCP clients

Current limits

This page documents the bridge as shipped today.

Current limits:

• conversation discovery depends on existing Gateway session route metadata
• no generic push protocol beyond the Claude-specific adapter
• no message edit or react tools yet
• HTTP/SSE/streamable-http transport connects to a single remote server; no multiplexed upstream yet
• permissions_list_open only includes approvals observed while the bridge is connected

Related

• CLI reference
• Plugins